Spreadsheet software covers grids for calculation, shared editing and, increasingly, tables that behave like databases.
This guide ranks products by who sells them, what the free and paid versions allow, and what happens at the edges: row and record caps, user ceilings, and whether you can install the editor yourself. Suites bought as bundles appear lower.
Vendors can pay for more visibility on this website, for example a higher place in a ranking or more room on a page. Commercial relationships can also affect which products we feature and how prominently. Every vendor link is marked the same, whatever the arrangement behind it. How that works.
In short
What spreadsheet software does
Spreadsheet software stores numbers and text in cells, calculates with formulas, builds charts and pivot tables, and lets several people edit one file or link it to other systems.
Five tests decide the order: setup effort, real cost, how your data leaves, whether you can walk away, and who the spreadsheet tool was built for. On top of them sits one rule. The top three places are for challengers, which means vendors outside the big names, where the category has any, and the household brands come in from fourth place. For why these five were chosen, and why nothing here gets a numeric score, see how we work.
Published per-user Workspace plans billed monthly or annually; Enterprise by contact; 14-day trial
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Organisations that already buy Workspace and want sheets in that bundle
Buyers who want a spreadsheet purchased on its own
The country column shows the vendor's headquarters or contracting entity. Data hosting is a separate matter, and an entry flags it when the two diverge.
Relational spreadsheet with record caps per document and a self-hosted edition
Ranked #1 of 12 in Best Spreadsheet Software in 2026.
Free tierSelf-hostablePublished pricingElsewhere
Here Grist is the nearest thing to a spreadsheet that behaves like a database. The free cloud plan allows unlimited documents, ten team members and two guests per document, so splitting data across files is the intended habit.
Pro and Business raise the record and attachment allowances, and each comes with a 30-day trial. Enterprise cloud adds a dedicated regional server and custom SSO. Anyone wanting one sheet with millions of rows will reach the cap first.
What stands out
Linked tables
Self-hosted edition
Per-document record caps
Where it costs you
Record limits of 5,000 on the free plan and 150,000 on Business apply to each document.
The pricing page does not name the licence of the self-hosted community edition.
Right for
Small teams wanting linked tables and the option to host it themselves
Wrong for
Buyers who need one enormous table in a single file
Not stated by the vendorPublished cloud tiers from a no-cost plan up to Business, billed monthly or annually, plus a self-hosted community edition
Spreadsheet editor you can download or run on your own server
Ranked #2 of 12 in Best Spreadsheet Software in 2026.
Open sourcePricing on requestEurope
ONLYOFFICE is the entry here for buyers who want the editor itself on hardware they control. The site offers a 'Run on your server' route and says the solutions can be deployed on private servers, while desktop editors are free and ad-free.
A cloud option is offered with no trial length shown. The gap is cost: the pricing section linked from the home page was unavailable, so a server licence cannot be budgeted from the pages read.
What stands out
Server deployment
Desktop editors
Ad-free
Where it costs you
Server and cloud costs could not be checked because the linked pricing section failed to load.
The FAQ calls the product open source without naming a licence.
Right for
Teams wanting a spreadsheet editor they can place on private servers
Wrong for
Buyers who need published plan prices before shortlisting
LatviaDesktop editors cost nothing to download; cloud and server prices were not visible on the pages read
Community-developed spreadsheet released under the Mozilla Public License v2.0
Ranked #3 of 12 in Best Spreadsheet Software in 2026.
Free tierOpen sourcePublished pricingElsewhere
Calc is described on the site as a feature-rich spreadsheet to analyse data, crunch numbers and create clear visuals. Source code is under the Mozilla Public License v2.0 and the whole suite is offered at no cost.
A community develops it and The Document Foundation owns the trademark. That suits a buyer who installs and maintains it alone, and suits nobody who wants a named company to answer for the install.
What stands out
Mozilla Public License 2.0
Community development
Download only
Where it costs you
The home page says nothing about online co-editing or a hosted version.
Supported platforms are only linked to a requirements page, not listed on the home page.
Right for
Individuals and organisations wanting a spreadsheet with no licence fee
Wrong for
Teams that expect a vendor-run service with support
Not stated by the vendorFree of charge as a download; no paid plan appears on the pages read
Spreadsheet with Python, SQL and JavaScript cells and live data connections
Ranked #4 of 12 in Best Spreadsheet Software in 2026.
Free tierSelf-hostablePublished pricingElsewhere
Quadratic suits people who already write Python or SQL and want results landing in cells. Personal is free with limited AI, sharing, files and connections.
Pro adds unlimited sharing, files and connections with 20 dollars of AI credits monthly, and Business doubles the credits to 40 dollars and allows on-demand top-ups. Named connections include Postgres, QuickBooks and Plaid. A buyer who only needs sums and pivot tables pays for a coding layer they will not open.
What stands out
Python and SQL cells
Database connections
Monthly AI credits
Where it costs you
Pro and Business include a fixed monthly amount of AI credits, with more bought on demand for Business.
The page shows annual billing only, so a month-to-month price cannot be read.
Right for
Analysts who write code against live databases from inside the grid
Wrong for
Teams wanting a plain grid with no code layer
Not stated by the vendorFree Personal plan; published per-user Pro and Business prices billed annually; Enterprise by contact
Volunteer-built office suite spreadsheet under the Apache License 2.0
Ranked #5 of 12 in Best Spreadsheet Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestElsewhere
This entry covers the Calc component of a suite, and the pages read speak about the suite only. Its licence is the Apache License 2.0, a release dated 14 October 2026 shows the project is still shipping, and the trademarks belong to The Apache Software Foundation.
Everything rests on volunteers, by the site's own account. For a spreadsheet buyer that means a working download with no price, and no vendor to call when a file will not open.
What stands out
Apache License 2.0
Volunteer developed
Release 4.1.17
Where it costs you
The home page does not describe Calc or list its features.
The site says Apache pays nobody for development, translation or QA.
Right for
Users wanting a licence-fee-free desktop spreadsheet from a foundation-run project
Wrong for
Organisations that need paid support or a service agreement
Not stated by the vendorNo price stated on the pages read; releases carry the Apache License 2.0
Browser spreadsheet sized for millions of rows with data warehouse links
Ranked #6 of 12 in Best Spreadsheet Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingElsewhere
Row Zero is built around size: 10 million or more rows on the free plan and over a billion on custom Enterprise. Integrations named include Databricks, Snowflake, BigQuery, Postgres and S3, and hosting options reach Private Link, GovCloud and on-prem or private setups.
SOC 2 Type II, GDPR and HIPAA appear on the page. The ownership banner matters for ranking: the product now belongs to a data platform vendor, and plans may follow its priorities.
What stands out
10M+ rows
Warehouse write-back
Acquired by Databricks
Where it costs you
The free plan allows a single workbook, and AI chat there has weekly limits.
A pricing-page banner says Databricks has acquired the company.
Right for
Analysts who open huge files and send results back to a warehouse
Wrong for
Buyers who want a vendor with no corporate parent
Not stated by the vendorFree plan with one workbook; published monthly per-user Pro and Business prices; Enterprise unpublished
Spreadsheet inside a free office suite for desktop, mobile and browser
Ranked #7 of 12 in Best Spreadsheet Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestElsewhere
WPS Spreadsheets covers the most platforms of any entry: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, iPad and an online version. The site lists AirSheet, DBSheet and Forms alongside automatic chart generation and insight summaries, and promises conversion of Microsoft Office, PDF and Google Docs files.
Co-editing with comments is named. What the pages leave out is the commercial side, since the Pricing link carries no plan names, so the cost of staying is unclear.
What stands out
AirSheet and DBSheet
AI data analysis
Opens Office files
Where it costs you
The Pricing link shows no plans, prices or currency on the page read.
The page does not describe a separate no-cost allowance for Spreadsheets alone.
Right for
Users moving Office files to a lighter suite across Windows, Mac, Linux and phones
Wrong for
Buyers who must see paid tiers and limits first
Not stated by the vendorDownload promoted as no-cost for the whole suite; a Pricing link exists but names no plans or amounts
Moves and transforms spreadsheet data between files on a credit meter
Ranked #8 of 12 in Best Spreadsheet Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingElsewhere
Sheetgo sits beside spreadsheets as a connector. A data move from a source to a destination, or each document, PDF or email created, uses one credit, and credits beyond the allowance are billed.
The Automations tier has a free plan and a Pro trial, Workflows tiers start at Team with a trial, and Virtual Employees and Data Space are custom priced. Payment is by card, with bank transfer arranged through sales, so heavy automation means watching usage closely.
What stands out
Automation credits
Data moves between files
Document generation
Where it costs you
Monthly plans are non-refundable, and annual refunds within 14 days lose a 5% processing fee.
The Pro credit allowance is not stated, so volume costs cannot be forecast from the page.
Right for
Teams that already live in spreadsheets and need files to feed each other
Wrong for
Anyone looking for a grid to type and calculate in
Not stated by the vendorFree Automations plan; paid Automations Pro and Workflows tiers with 14-day trials; usage billed in credits
Spreadsheet-style database with interfaces, automations and per-editor billing
Ranked #9 of 12 in Best Spreadsheet Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingElsewhere
For a spreadsheet shopper Airtable is the step up to structured records. The Team plan is priced per editing seat billed annually, Business costs more per seat, and Enterprise Scale is custom with invoice payment by PO, ACH, wire or check.
Viewers cost nothing, which suits wide sharing. Named extras include Interfaces, Portals, Reporting and AI Agents, and the Scale listing mentions 100M records. Annual billing with prorating means a changing headcount shows up on the invoice.
What stands out
Per-editor seats
Interfaces and portals
Read-only users uncharged
Where it costs you
Every editor is a paid seat on Team and Business, billed annually.
The pricing page names no country for the vendor.
Right for
Teams sharing structured records with many viewers and a few editors
Wrong for
Buyers who plan to keep a flat grid with formulas only
Not stated by the vendorFree plan; published per-seat Team and Business prices billed annually; Enterprise Scale custom
Grid-based work tracker priced per member with a 30-day trial
Ranked #10 of 12 in Best Spreadsheet Software in 2026.
Published pricingElsewhere
The reason to shortlist Smartsheet is storage and automation headroom rather than formulas. Pro gives 250 automated triggers a month and 20 GB, Business gives unlimited automations and 1 TB, and Enterprise is custom priced for ten or more members.
Integrations named include Microsoft Office 365, Google Workspace and Slack on every plan, with Power BI, Tableau and Claude from Business. Because per-member prices apply to everyone who edits, headcount drives the bill.
What stands out
Per-member pricing
Automation trigger caps
Trial without a card
Where it costs you
Pro is available only to new customers and caps automated triggers at 250 a month.
The page shows two prices per plan without labelling monthly against yearly.
Right for
Groups tracking tasks and approvals in a grid with set integrations
Wrong for
Individuals wanting a standalone calculation spreadsheet
Not stated by the vendorPublished per-member Pro and Business prices, monthly or yearly; Enterprise custom; 30-day trial without a card
Browser spreadsheet that connects to the wider Zoho application family
Ranked #11 of 12 in Best Spreadsheet Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestElsewhere
Zoho Sheet's case rests on its neighbours. The page claims more than 1,000 integration options and names Zoho CRM, Forms, Projects and Books, with Zoho Flow for automation. Zia answers questions about data and helps with charts, pivot tables, formulas and VBA macros.
Access control covers cell locking, change tracking and delegated permission levels. Outside the Zoho family the pull is weaker, and the unreadable pricing page leaves the real cost unverified.
What stands out
Zia AI assistant
About 40 chart types
Zoho app integrations
Where it costs you
The pricing address returned an HTTP 404, so plan prices could not be checked.
The home page shows no free-plan or trial terms behind its free-spreadsheets headline.
Right for
Companies already running Zoho applications that want sheets inside that family
Wrong for
Buyers needing confirmed plan costs before a trial
Not stated by the vendorNo prices or plan terms on the pages read; the pricing address returned an error
Browser spreadsheet sold inside per-user Workspace bundles with pooled storage
Ranked #12 of 12 in Best Spreadsheet Software in 2026.
Published pricingElsewhere
Sheets is not priced alone: the product page points to Workspace plans per user per month, billed monthly at the regular price, with an annual option that the page says saves 16% on a one-year commitment.
Storage is pooled, 30 GB per user on Starter, 2 TB on Standard and 5 TB on Plus. New customers get an introductory discount. Past 300 users the buyer must move to Enterprise and ask for a price.
What stands out
Workspace bundles
Pooled storage
300-user plan ceiling
Where it costs you
Starter, Standard and Plus are limited to 300 users.
Enterprise carries no published price and needs a sales contact.
Right for
Organisations that already buy Workspace and want sheets in that bundle
Wrong for
Buyers who want a spreadsheet purchased on its own
Not stated by the vendorPublished per-user Workspace plans billed monthly or annually; Enterprise by contact; 14-day trial
Spreadsheet software stores numbers and text in cells, calculates with formulas, builds charts and pivot tables, and lets several people edit one file or link it to other systems. Differences that change the outcome seldom sit in the features. Here is the sequence we would follow.
01
Check who publishes a price
The split is 8 published against 4 quoted. If you want to compare numbers first, start with Grist, LibreOffice Calc, Quadratic, Row Zero, Sheetgo, Airtable, Smartsheet, Google Sheets.
02
Ask which country the contract runs through
Jurisdiction is a buying criterion here. The 12 vendors are spread over 2 countries (Elsewhere 11, Europe 1), and the home country determines which disclosure rules bind them.
03
Decide if open source matters
Open source here means ONLYOFFICE Spreadsheet Editor, LibreOffice Calc. The price of self-hosting is the time your team spends maintaining it.
Desktop spreadsheets against hosted ones: LibreOffice Calc, ONLYOFFICE and Google Sheets
The first choice in this market is where the file lives. LibreOffice Calc and Apache OpenOffice Calc are downloads built by volunteers under the Mozilla Public License v2.0 and the Apache License 2.0, so there is no licence fee and nobody to phone. ONLYOFFICE offers desktop editors and a route to run the editor on your own server, which keeps files where you put them.
Google Sheets lives in the browser and is bought inside Workspace plans. Hosted tools make co-editing easy, but the plan caps and per-user fees follow you. Before deciding, write down how many people edit the same file at once and whether anyone outside the organisation needs access.
Count how many people edit one file at once
Decide whether files must sit on your own server
Confirm who answers for a failed install
When a sheet outgrows rows: Grist, Airtable and Row Zero compared
Three products here answer the same pain in different ways: a grid that has become a database, or a database that has become a grid. Grist links tables inside documents and caps records per document, from 5,000 on its free plan to 150,000 on Business. Airtable charges per editing seat while read-only collaborators cost nothing on Team and Business.
Row Zero takes the opposite route, offering 10 million or more rows in a single free workbook and pushing results back to a warehouse on Business. Pick by what breaks first for you: relations between lists, the number of editors, or the sheer size of one table, and test that limit with real data before anyone migrates.
Count the records your largest table will reach
Check who needs edit rights and who only reads
Test a 5 GB or larger file before paying
Reading per-user spreadsheet pricing before a pilot
Prices in this category are quoted in ways that make comparison harder than it looks. Google Sheets is sold inside Workspace plans with pooled storage and a 300-user ceiling on three tiers. Smartsheet publishes two prices per plan without labelling which is monthly, and Pro is only for new customers. Quadratic shows annual prices only.
Zoho Sheet's pricing page failed to load when read, and WPS Spreadsheets links to a Pricing page that names no plans. Ask each vendor for the price of your actual headcount on monthly and yearly billing, and write down what happens to storage, automation limits, user ceilings and single sign-on when you cross a tier.
Ask for monthly and yearly prices at your headcount
Note which tier adds single sign-on
Check what the trial includes and when it ends
Spreadsheets that connect: Sheetgo, Quadratic and the integration question
Some products in this ranking are less about the grid and more about what flows into it. Sheetgo moves data between files and creates documents, with every move or generated file using one automation credit and overage billed. Quadratic runs Python, SQL and JavaScript in cells and connects to Postgres, QuickBooks and Plaid, with AI credits capped each month.
Zoho Sheet leans on its sibling Zoho applications, and Smartsheet names Slack, Power BI and Tableau among its integrations. The risk is a monthly meter you cannot forecast. List the systems you need connected, estimate how often data moves, and choose the tool whose limit you can still predict at your busiest month.
List every system the sheet must read from or write to
Estimate monthly data moves against any credit allowance
Check whether connections are limited on the cheapest paid plan
What goes wrong most often when buying spreadsheet software
Choosing a spreadsheet on the free plan's row or record cap, then discovering that the cap applies to each document.
Buying Google Sheets as a standalone spreadsheet when the price is a whole Workspace bundle with a 300-user ceiling on three tiers.
Treating a volunteer-built download such as Apache OpenOffice Calc as a supported product with a named company behind it.
Assuming a credit-metered tool such as Sheetgo costs the same each month, when every file move uses a credit.
07
Frequently asked questions
8 answers
What is the best spreadsheet software in 2026?
Grist takes first place among the 12 we reviewed. Grist keeps spreadsheet habits but stores linked tables inside documents, which suits teams that have outgrown a flat grid. It ranks first because the community edition can run on your own server and every cloud limit is published.
The cost is the ceiling: 5,000 records per document on the free plan, rising to 150,000 on Business. The site states no country, and the pricing page does not name the licence.
Which spreadsheet tools publish their pricing?
8 out of 12 state a price model on their own site:
Grist: Published cloud tiers from a no-cost plan up to Business, billed monthly or annually, plus a self-hosted community edition.
LibreOffice Calc: Free of charge as a download; no paid plan appears on the pages read.
Quadratic: Free Personal plan; published per-user Pro and Business prices billed annually; Enterprise by contact.
Row Zero: Free plan with one workbook; published monthly per-user Pro and Business prices; Enterprise unpublished.
Sheetgo: Free Automations plan; paid Automations Pro and Workflows tiers with 14-day trials; usage billed in credits.
Airtable: Free plan; published per-seat Team and Business prices billed annually; Enterprise Scale custom.
Smartsheet: Published per-member Pro and Business prices, monthly or yearly; Enterprise custom; 30-day trial without a card.
Google Sheets: Published per-user Workspace plans billed monthly or annually; Enterprise by contact; 14-day trial.
The other 4 quote per organisation.
Is there a free spreadsheet tool?
Grist, LibreOffice Calc, Quadratic, Row Zero, Sheetgo, Airtable offer a free tier or a free self-hosted edition.
Where are these spreadsheet software vendors established?
The headquarters are spread over 2 countries and 2 regions, Elsewhere 11, Europe 1:
Grist: Not stated by the vendor.
ONLYOFFICE Spreadsheet Editor: Latvia.
LibreOffice Calc: Not stated by the vendor.
Quadratic: Not stated by the vendor.
Apache OpenOffice Calc: Not stated by the vendor.
Row Zero: Not stated by the vendor.
WPS Spreadsheets: Not stated by the vendor.
Sheetgo: Not stated by the vendor.
Airtable: Not stated by the vendor.
Smartsheet: Not stated by the vendor.
Zoho Sheet: Not stated by the vendor.
Google Sheets: Not stated by the vendor.
Which spreadsheet tools are open source?
ONLYOFFICE Spreadsheet Editor, LibreOffice Calc.
Which spreadsheet tools can you host yourself?
Grist, Quadratic. The remaining 10 run only on the vendor's servers.
What should you use instead of Grist?
The next in line are ONLYOFFICE Spreadsheet Editor, aimed at teams wanting a spreadsheet editor they can place on private servers, and LibreOffice Calc, aimed at Individuals and organisations wanting a spreadsheet with no licence fee.
Who should not buy Grist?
Buyers who need one enormous table in a single file. Record limits of 5,000 on the free plan and 150,000 on Business apply to each document..
Your spreadsheet software product is not among these 12? Tell us what it is for and who it serves, and we will consider it. The decision is editorial, and the ground rules are set out under software advice.
